Byzantine practice of Facial Mutilation

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>>1645035
>born ugly
"That's how God made him"
>mutilated in life
"He was too weak to prevent his face from being blemished, and now his face will always show how unfit to rule he is"

That's all I got beyond them being hypocritical and illogical.

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>>1645062
>He was too weak to prevent his face from being blemished, and now his face will always show how unfit to rule he is"

But tons of pretenders were blinded/mutilated when they were children. It is illogical, though

>>1645035
>the Emperor had to be someone who was 'whole' and 'unblemished'

Because 'whole' and 'unblemished' stops at physical mutilation, and doesn't otherwise cover ugliness

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>>1645035
>John II Komnenos

>>1645280
Also:
>John II Komnenos or Comnenus (Greek: Ίωάννης Βʹ Κομνηνός, Iōannēs II Komnēnos; September 13, 1087 – 8 April 1143) was Byzantine Emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (Kaloïōannēs)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_II_Komnenos

How were they mutilated? I've never heard of this.

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>>1645417
Nose was usually cut off. I forget which emperor was deposed, lost his nose, but returned. It effectively put lie to the notion.
The Romans copied lots of stupid things from the east, and this was the 2nd most stupid.

>>1645426
>Nose was usually cut off
bs

>>1645703
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justinian_II
he was why they started blinding claimants instead of just fucking with their face

>>1645710
Oh I thought you were claiming they fucked their own shit up on purpose.


The mutilation of political rivals by the emperor was deemed an effective way of side-lining from the line of succession a person who was seen as a threat. Castrated men were not seen as a threat, as no matter how much power they gained they could never take the throne, and numerous eunuchs were entrusted with high and confidential offices in the Byzantine court and administration. In Byzantine culture, the emperor was a reflection of heavenly authority. Since God was perfect, the emperor also had to be unblemished; any mutilation, especially facial wounds, would disqualify an individual from taking the throne.[3] An exception was Justinian II (ὁ Ῥινότμητος, "the slit-nosed"), who had his nose cut off (Greek - rhinokopia) when he was overthrown in 695 but was able to become emperor again, in 705.[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_mutilation_in_Byzantine_culture#Rationale

>>1645856
justinian wore a golden nose prosthetic

>>1645280
BYZANTINED!

>>1645035
>I don't get the reasoning behind the blinding/facial mutilation performed on pretenders to the Byzantine throne.

That was actually a leftover of ancient Greco-Roman belief that human body must be left intact. The very same belief that led early Christianity to abandon circumcision.

Basically, a disfigured person was incapable of express the rights of a citizen and free man. Thus he was barred from holding any public office.